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Sound of Metal Movie Review

Sound of Metal is a 2020 drama film directed by Darius Marder and starring Riz Ahmed. It’s one of the best films of the year.

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“The world does keep moving,

and it can be a damn cruel place.

But for me, those moments of stillness,

that place, that’s the kingdom of God“

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It is about a metal band drummer who starts losing his hearing and he has to adjust to the world of silence. This is a very sad, difficult to watch, but important movie as we rarely see films about the deaf community, and here we got a thorough depiction of it. The movie’s casting of many real deaf people was inspired while the central performance is amazing.

Yes, what Riz Ahmed did here is incredible. Mostly known for his turn in ‘Rogue One’, but also some more serious films here and there, this will undoubtedly prove to be a turning point in his career. Ruben wouldn’t bring to mind Riz Ahmed at all, but he adjusted to the role so well, both physically and in research, thus he gave a very committed, powerful performance that is at its best in the quiet scenes of pain and the silent recognition of his new state. It’s an understated, natural performance that is the main reason to see this film.

Others are also very good as again they cast real life deaf people. Paul Raci as Joe is the most memorable of the bunch and his life story and his entire outlook on life and silence being meditative were so powerful to listen to. Olivia Cooke was also very good as the girlfriend and their fallout was quite sad to witness.

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Which brings me to that ending. Wow, what a beautiful final sequence. I loved every moment of it. Ruben gets implants, which is this super futuristic and costly procedure that tries to trick the brain into hearing things, but it all sounds very screechy and frustratingly robotic. While outside, all of the noise is too much for him, so he removes the implants and starts appreciating life in silence. It’s a message that is all about the calmness of silence and how that isn’t the worst thing in the world once you get used to it. No sound is better than annoying sound and the movie is about learning how to hope with your new reality.

Sound of Metal is also pretty intense stuff. Basically, what we have in the first act is a very creepy, disturbing thriller/horror of sorts that makes all of us watching the film question our hearing abilities and wonder if that will happen to us as well. Yes, the filmmakers managed to make these hearing loss scenes so impactful and so scary that it really affects the viewers and makes us empathize with Ruben more strongly.

Sound. This is another magical property of the movie besides Ahmed’s performance. If this film doesn’t get Best Sound at the Oscars, then they should be ashamed of themselves. Then again, ‘A Quiet Place’ didn’t get it, so anything can happen. The sound design here is brilliant. The film switches very often to Ruben’s viewpoint (or should I say hearing point) where we get to hear the world how he experiences it.

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The distorted sound, the muted voices, the silence, everything sounded impeccable here and it really made for an evocative viewing experience. The direction and dialogue are also pretty good, but the pacing in the second half is a bit too slow, which may be a point, but still the first half was more engaging.